I know.

I know!

Yes, I know that I have been very silent on this site for a few months now.

But trust me…all is well.

God simply called me back to a quiet period of reflection and personal discernment.

And for that I am extremely grateful.

A lot has happened these past 3 months and I look forward to sharing most of that JOY with you. I have missed you being a part of the journey with me. However, most parts were meant solely for me to walk through alone, with the One who knows me best – the One who fashioned and knit me together.

Primarily, my God me gave me a wonderful 3 month period to evaluate my vocation, then to cultivate my vocation, and more importantly explore the culture of vocations.

You may be wondering, What is a culture of vocations? Well, recently, the Serra International community summed this up very beautifully.

Let’s start with the “culture.” It means a set of shared values, attitudes and behavioral norms that bind a community of individuals together.

For Catholics, these shared values, attitudes, and behavioral norms are defined by the teachings of Jesus Christ. It begins with the belief that Jesus Christ is God – one of the three persons in the blessed Trinity – and that we are formed in the image and likeness of God. Our God is a God of love, so too must we love one another. And Christ taught us that God must be first in our lives. And that means God’s will comes first. God’s will means, first and foremost, striving to know and put into action that special, unique purpose for which God created us – each day, each season of our lives and for our lives as a whole.

Serra International

God always calls us to a life of vocation!

For over 37 years I have answered the call, as a wife. Moreover, for 34 years, as a mother. As well as, these past 8, as a genuinely smitten grandmother!

*Two more added to the gaggle – for a total of 7!

However; in the silence, the One who knows me best, took me back to my Baptismal promise and the very first vocational call I was given.

As, HIS.

The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for:

The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with god. This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being. For if man exists, it is because God has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence. He cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that love and entrusts himself to his creator.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27

I have always felt a draw to God. As a young teenager I would secretly ride my bike to our Carmelite Monastery to spend quiet solitude in the Chapel, with the One who loved me. I never dared to share or found a way to articulate this draw to anyone. It was an experience between only He & I. And I always well-guarded the friendship He & I shared for fear of mockery or rejection. Sadly, for many years of my life I had been weak. I kept silent about my draw to Him, about my trust in Him, about our friendship – all as a means of self-protection.

However, I have grown strong!

And He has challenged me these past 3 months to remember; but more importantly, to embrace this strength.

A strength only given to me through Him.

I recognize all I may lose embracing this next vocational call, as well as, an acknowledgement of all I have already lost.

Which is why, in the company & comfort of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I mourn it all.

Despite all of this, nothing can compare with the great peace and JOY which comes from simply TRUSTING in HIM.

I believe, first and foremost, we must seek to discover and do God’s will in our lives.

God comes first!

THIS is what a Culture of Vocations means and what I am striving for. It starts with each of us individually – because Christ’s calling is uniquely individual.

“Each day we rise from sleep, we need to put God first and ask what is the special, unique purpose He has for us this day, for this season in our life and for all our life. This is what growing in holiness is all about. We must first ask of ourselves the same thing we seek from those called to priesthood or religious life – to put God first, to discover his will for us and to strive with courage to achieve His will for us. To grow a Culture of Vocations in our parishes and dioceses, we must first grow it in ourselves.

Serra International, July 2023

Now, what does that exactly look like for me?

Well, dear friends, you’ll just have to keep showing up in this cyber-space to find out!

Giggles.

hugs n’ blessings, once again!

“Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2392